


All That Matters

by WhumpTown



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Brightwell, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21843700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhumpTown/pseuds/WhumpTown
Summary: Gil watching Dani and Malcolm fall in love
Relationships: Gil Arroyo & Dani Powell, Gil Arroyo/Malcolm Bright, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 9
Kudos: 156





	All That Matters

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing says ADHD like hyperfocusing on writing a fanfic at 11 at night and managing to finish it in an hour and thirty minutes

On Tuesday, of Malcolm’s fifth month working with the team, Dani comes to work wearing an old shirt. She’s a little wind-tossed, her cheeks flushed with the cold and her arms wrapped tight around her chest to protect it from the cold. The second she strips her coat away, Gil’s interest is piqued.

The simple shirt she wears is too familiar. One he’d seen but in the back of his mind, he felt the nagging impression he’d never seen it on Dani. So who had he seen it on? The realization comes sometime later. He’s on the phone with Jessica, letting her give him an earful about Ainsely and her new public stunt. Dani shifts in her office chair and the material bunches up around her collar. The same way that shirt used to around Malcolm’s when he guiltily shrunk in his chair.

So, it’s Malcolm’s shirt. It used to be a favorite and the material has seen better days but Gil can commend Dani for making it still look decent. It’s hardly visible under the sweater she’s wearing. Gil knows better though and he wonders how close the two of them must be. Especially, since that’s Malcolm’s favorite shirt. A comforting article of clothing. 

Two days later, Gil sees them arguing over tea. It’s not heated but he can tell by the way their faces pinch they don’t agree. They’re sharing a large Starbucks cup and from Gil can gather sharing it was not the intended goal. But Malcolm’s on the cusp of getting over a cold that Dani seems to be getting and it’s soothing their soar throats. He hears them muffle laughs with their sleeves and Dani smiles when she shoves Malcolm. Malcolm grins as he hands the cup back to her.

They get a case the next day and Gil actually misses watching them. Malcolm buries himself in the conference room under files and cups full of either coffee or tea. Dani stays at her desk squinting at the harsh light of her computer screen. They’re here when he leaves at night and here when he gets back. He only catches them once during this time, for the briefest second Malcolm passes Dani’s desk. They don’t even look at one another as he slides a cup across her desk.

Everything seems so silent without their laughter.

The next Wednesday, he finds them asleep at Dani’s desk. Malcolm’s dragged JT’s chair from his desk and has it leaned back dangerously far. Both their feet stretched out on her desk and somehow, her head rests on his shoulder and his on hers. It’s a balancing act, Gil’s surprised they pull off. 

When JT comes in, he pulls up another chair and doesn’t breath a word to the sleeping pair. 

Predictably, Malcolm wakes up first. There’s no girl in the box and not even his father dares ruin this for him. A muffled snore from Dani the reason for the premature ending of his nap. He moves a little farther down into the chair and falls back to sleep. JT smiles at Malcolm, even if he’s already back to sleep and will never see the soft look of acceptance on JT’s face. Gil feels a swell of pride over his ragtag group. 

Christmas comes early to the station. It comes dressed as Malcolm Bright and the arm full of gifts he has. His cheeks as bright as the red sweater on his chest, he hands them out. A mug for JT, Gil doesn’t catch what words are written on the mug but JT laughs deep in his chest. Smiling at Malcolm with a shake of his head.

Edrisa accepts her 2,000 piece jigsaw puzzle recreating Ted Bundy’s mugshot with open arms. The kiss she delivers to his cheek makes his face turns a deep red and Gil smiles when Malcolm glances nervously at Dani. Only reinforcing his suspicions. Dani laughs though and asks to see the puzzle. 

Gil gets a sweater and Malcolm’s red hot cheeks when he asked in a hushed voice if they can talk later. 

Dani gets a pair of gloves and Malcolm’s shaky voice commenting it’s so her hands aren’t so cold. She smiles softly and the moment is thrown out the second an evil smile crosses her face. Gil watches as Malcolm doesn’t even look put off by how close Dani gets to him. And the room explodes in booming laughter when Dani presses her freezing cold hands to his neck. 

_“I’m not letting you anywhere near me again until you’ve had your hands in those gloves.”_

The implication in his words is thrown away by JT’s heavy hand coming down on his shoulder. He shakes his head and says,” _doubt that, pretty boy_.”

Gil forgets about their scheduled talk. His sweater is sitting with his coat, he plans to wear it tomorrow. More pressing, he can’t seem to figure out how to beat his current round of Solitaire. Then his office door opens after a soft knock and he finds Malcolm. It’s been years since he saw the kid look so nervous.

“ _Dani and I-”_

 _“I know, kid.”_ Gil smiles at the way Malcolm’s tension deflates into the chair. He leans back in the chair and smiles goofily at Gil. Suddenly, Gil realizes he’s never seen the kid look so genuinely happy. Like it’s the easiest thing in the world.

“ _We don’t want to put you in a weird place-”_ but they have. He’s raised Malcolm for years. He may have missed the most crucial developmental years but Malcolm is his son. For better and worse. He got the phone call when Malcolm got accepted into Harvard and he always talked Malcolm through sex. So, there’s ups and downs. 

Then there’s Dani. He missed out there but he was there when it counted. After her overdose, he took her to NA meetings and got her proper help. He and Jackie put in the time and now they’ve got two fantastic kids. 

Who are sleeping with each other? Maybe. Probably.

“ _Malcolm, all Jackie and I ever wanted was for you to be okay. To be loved by someone the way you deserve. The same goes for Dani._ ” Gil leans forward on his desk,” _would you say that’s what’s happening? Do you love each other?_ ”

Gil new the hesitation wasn’t for confusion or uncertainty. Malcolm was thinking. Moments, passion, and fire. He could see it in Malcolm’s eyes and he knew the answer long before Malcolm even thought about telling him. His answer is a hardly contained smile and a nod.

“ _Well, then that’s all that matters.”_

Never mind the paperwork these shitheads are going to cause him.

Gil doesn’t see their first kiss or even the 100th. 

The first is in the hospital. Malcolm shouts, panicking as another nurse nears his left arm. He’s completely strapped down, he can’t even lift his head from the bed with the restraint they have over his forehead. He screams out nonsense. 

She comes out of nowhere. His blood stains her shirt. She takes his hand in hers, placing her hand against his cheek so he can’t see the nurse. Successfully she manages to get his eyes to focus on her. The nurse is able to set up a line of morphine, the effects of which are immediate. Malcolm lets out a low, groan of pain as it works.

“Shh,” she rubs circles on his chest smiling down at him. He slowly calms down, allowing for the buzz of doctors and nurses to be more controlled and helpful. She stands by his side, soothing him every time he fights his way back to consciousness. “You’re okay.”

Slowly, he comes too. She’s already had them do away with the restraints, promising she can hold him down if they need them again. They don’t. 

“You scared me,” she whispers from the side of the bed. She rubs worriedly at his fingers, tangling their fingers into her palm. “They tied you down.” She looks away as a tear slides down her cheek. Another quickly following. 

Malcolm swallows thickly and looks around. His eyes follow the IV in his left arm up to the machine near his head. He clears his throat,” what happened?” He just remembers… pain and Dani. No explanation for the pain.

Dani shakes her head so Malcolm squeezes her hand trying to offer her some comfort. 

“Hey,” he pulls her hand, motioning for her to come closer. She stands slowly, wiping her tears away with both hands. He keeps pulling and guiding until she’s sitting on the edge of the bed. “Come a little closer,” he keeps saying ‘a little closer’ until he reaches up and kisses her. The hand he wraps around the back of her head puts butterflies in her stomach. She kisses him back.

Their one-hundredth kiss is sleepy. 

Malcolm’s sleeping on his stomach. Somehow, he’s managed to slide all the way down the bed. The shirt he went to bed in is gone and his feet are handing off the side of the bed. Dani wakes up when one of his cold hands wraps under his stomach, the stomach he’s using as a pillow. 

She startles him awake. She hadn’t meant to but as her hand snakes into his hair he jerks awake. He sits up a little, confusion in the lines of frustration on his face. He sees her though and the frustration is gone. He untangles the comfort from around her legs. Sitting up and wrapping it all around him before crawling back up the bed and resting his head on her shoulder. 

He sits back up and kisses her. By the time his head is on her shoulder, he’s already back asleep.

Gil sees the other stuff.

When they argue loudly in the conference room. Slamming the door shut so loudly the blinds rattle. Their voices not nearly muffled enough.

The comments Malcolm makes that make Dani’s eyebrows deepen in a frown, the anger she’s hardly suppressing. The one’s Dani makes that do the same to Malcolm.

Little gestures. Malcolm correcting a story that Dani’s telling. Her rolling her eyes but retelling that part of the story for ‘accuracy’. Dani wrapping a scarf around Malcolm. Their booming laughter and silent tears.

Certainly, not what he expected when he brought them together for the first time but he’s not complaining.

**Author's Note:**

> Send me some ideas for more fics  
> I'm on winter break and all this free time is driving me up the walls


End file.
